Immigrants deported from the US face ordeal

TIJUANA.- In light of the constant raids by ICE, thousands of immigrants face an ordeal upon being deported from the United States and separated from their spouses and children. Meanwhile, they complain that the Mexican Consulate in San Diego does not help them in their vulnerable situation.

"ICE arrested me for not having papers, they treated my like a criminal. I have lived in Los Angeles more than 15 years. I went to court to try to straighten out my immigration status, and things got worse. They knew where I lived and went to my house and arrested me in front of my wife and my children. Once arrested, the Border Patrol agents told me I could call the Mexican Consulate for advice. At the immigration facilities, they have posters with the telephone numbers for the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations and the Consulate, where one can call for assistance. The American agents gave me three opportunities to call. I called and used up my three calls and the Consulate never answered. The agents were laughing. Now I know that they were insisting that I call because they knew that nobody was going to answer at the Mexican Consulate. Immigrants are disadvantaged by our own Mexican government. I am desperate and I am worried about my family because I am the breadwinner in the house," said Omar González, an immigrant from Oaxaca who was deported to Tijuana and who demonstrates the indifference of the authorities and the ordeal Mexican immigrants have to endure upon being separated from their families.